Monday, 29 May 2017

Reading Sarah Waters books

When I got lots of books from a Bray neighbour, he mentioned that he found the Sarah Waters books brilliant. So, I started on them..

Sarah Waters - The Night Watch

I'd read other WWII books, which had given very detailed descriptions of life at the time, but not many that were set in London, so that was interesting.. There were things you wouldn't really have thought of, like driving an ambulance during the blackout, with dimmed lights..

But out of all those things you hadn't really thought of, the biggest issue had to be the "secret lifestyle" of being gay, since it was illegal at the time, and if you were busted, you'd actually go to prison.. That just seems so unfair and unbelievable, nowadays!

I enjoyed this one. It was like drifting in and out of their lives..

Apparently, there's been a TV adaptation of this - I'd love to see it, but I'd also be a bit worried that it might be completely different from my very vivid mind film..

Sarah Waters - Fingersmith

I actually found the storyline very predictable, which didn't bother me at all, though.

I love it when a modern author can write about historical times with such detail, that you really feel you're there.. Like here, the constant references to clothing details, mundane tasks, etc.. So different from what we know nowadays, yet you became so familiar with them while reading..

Also, feeling sorry for people who had to be in 'madhouses' or prisons, in those days..

There's a TV adaptation of this one as well - what I said above, applies here as well..

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Now, I didn't actually know anything about the author - I'd never heard of her until I got these books.. However, after finishing Fingersmith, I thought, hold on, both these books had a bit of a lesbian theme..